Improvement in apparatus for the manufacture of bromine



anni sane JOHN J. Juanan, or NArRoN'A, rniuvsrmANIA.`

" Letters Patent Ne. 110,662, dated January 3, 187.1.

IMPROVEMENT INAPPA-RA'rus Fon THE MANuFATuRE oFBRoMlNE.

The Schedule referred to in theselletters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom 'it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. JHLER, of Natrona, in the connty ofAllegheny and State ot' Penn- Sylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprove# ment in Apparatn's'for the Manufacture of Bromine; and I dohereby declare the following to be-a full,

clear, and exact .description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing forming pai-tof this specification, which'frepresents apparatus for manufacturing bromine, with the still whichforms the subject of my invention shown in section.

My invention or discovery consists of a still or stills, made of wood,for the extraction of bromine from the mother-water of s. lines andother substances yielding bromine.

Hitherto, in the manufacture of bromine, the stills used for extractingthat subst-ance have been made chiey of sandstone or of lead, or atleast lined with lead. rlhe employment of these materials hasbeens'upposed to be indispensably necessary, owing to the fact that thebromine rapidly attacks and destroys most of the metals formingbromides, and thus rendering stills made of iron, copper, or ,otherordinary material utterly useless for the purpose.

Bromine forms a chemical combination with lead1 y less rapidly than withiron or copper and most other metals, and hence has been much 'used for'vessels employed in making bromine, but even this'metal is attacked anddestroyed by the vapors of .bromine :formed in the process ofdistillation, Iwhich attack all metals more speedily than does"'b1ominein a liquid state. v f l Vegetable substances, being speedily charred bythe action of bromine, have been supposed to vbe entirely inapplicableas materials of which to make stills or other vessels to be used inmanufacturing bromine; but I have discovered that, when the stills aremade of-wood, without any lining of lead,

the effect of the bromine on the Wood is to charA it to a ycertaindepth, varying with the kind of wood used, and that then the destructiveaction of the bromine ceasesfor becomes so slow as-n'ot practically toprevent the employment of Wood for the purpose stated.

The kind of wood to be used may be varied at pleasure, the harder sorts,such as oak and chestnut, being preferred.

The stills may be made of any suitable and couvenientsize and shape,according to the process and apparatus desired to be employed; and theymay lbe conveniently heated by the introduction of naked steam, or bycoils of steam-pipe made of .lead or otherwise, as may be desired.

rlhey may also be surrounded or inased externally with iron, lead, orother materiahtogive them strength althoughl prefer to use simply woodenves sels made of staves bound together by iron hoops or ban ds.

In the accompanying drawing- A represents the still made ot'staves ofwood about three or four inches in thickness. p

lhe form is that of a frustum of a cone, solas to be more readily boundtogether and rendered steam and water-tightby driving down' the ironhoops or bands'a a.

The'joints between the strips or staves may be calked with oakum, andfurther made tight at allL the joints by means of any suitable cement,such, for

instance, as asphaltum, made from the residuum of' the distillation Vofpetroleum.

Common clay, made into a paste with hot bitternwater, may also be usedas a luting for the joints and for the cover of the still.r

The steam-pipe B, for introducing steam into thev still, is inserted atone side of the vessel A near to the bottom,and may be fastened by aloaden flange, b, at-

A4.tached to the pipe, and fastened to the outside of the still. 'v

hasahole for the insertion of a stone-ware or glass funnel, D, which islongV enotigh to extend below the surface of the' lfluid contents of'the still, and which serves-for the introduction 'et' the bittern ormotherwater, from which the bromine-is to Ybe, extracted, and thesulphuric acid and oxide of manganese or other chemicals used in .theprocess.

A glass tube, E7 is also inserted through the cover C for the admissionof the chemicalsduring the process.

Aleaden pipe, F, also inserted into the coverl ofA the still, but notextending down below its under surface, carries off the bi'omine vaporsto the 1'e frigerating apparatus G, constructed in the usual manner,with a receiver, H, below to hold the condensed'bromine. K

A plug,1l, near the bottom, closes an aperture for removing the residnumand cleaning outthe still.

The process of extracting the bromine maybe any which is rdinarilyknownand used, myimprovement being confined to the use of wooden stills, orstills having an interior wooden vessel or wooden lining.

- The advantages of my improvement 'over the use of stills of `leadorlined'with lead, are that the lead is more or less rapidly destroyedby the action ofthe bromine, while the wood, after charring to a smalldepth, resists, to a great degree, the further destruc- The top or coverO ofthe still, also made of wood,

tive action vof the bromne; and the adyantage of tially as hereinbeforedescribed, and forthe-purpose the use of wood, instead of either lead or'sandset forth. stone, is the very great cheapening of the apparatus Intestimony whereof I, the said J OHN J .J UHLER,

employed. have .hereunto set my hand.

What I claim as my invention, and desire-to secure JOHN J. J HLER. by`Letters Patent, is i Witnesses: y

Stills, for the manufacture of bromine, made of R. C. WBENSHALL,

wood, or with an interior lining of wood, substan '11. O. FITLER.

